A good buttermilk biscuit is like a self-effacing nuclear physicist: its humble exterior belies the brilliance it harbors beneath its surface. Based upon that comparison, the biscuit pictured above could win a Nobel Prize -- or at least top honors for World's Best Breakfast Food. Immortalized by SauceSupreme at Flickr, it was made by the amiable gents at Pine State Biscuits in Portland, Ore. The combination of fried chicken, cheddar and scrambled egg is a timeless classic -- as was, one imagines, the sense of satisfaction that followed its consumption.
I didn't grow up eating fried chicken. My mom was always more of a baked chicken kind of person (she liked to keep things as healthy as possible). In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times in life I've eaten friend chicken. And to be honest, I've never made it myself. And yet, I find it fascinating and totally hypnotic. I love the idea of good fried chicken and aspire to one day giving it a try in my kitchen.
The guys at The Bitten Word have no fried chicken fear and recently whipped up not one, but two batches of the stuff. They put Clay's mom's fried chicken up against Thomas Keller's recipe and invited a whole bunch of friends over to help them with the taste test. Clay's mom's recipe was the winner, mostly for its classic taste and super crispy skin. Sounds delicious!
When most people look at commercials for Klondike bars, I imagine that they see silly people doing fun, wacky things in return for yummy ice cream treats. Personally, I see cruelty, torture, and the dark side of addiction. Hunger is a harsh mistress; luckily, I've never been placed in a situation where I've had to do something embarrassing or illegal to get fed. To my shame, I have to admit that, under the right circumstances, I would probably humiliate myself for a Klondike bar. If the reward was a nice crême brûlée, there's no doubt: all bets would be off.
Because of this moral shortcoming, I can, to some extent, understand Tremayne Durham. A Brooklyn thug who was being held in an Oregon courthouse, Durham recently admitted that he did, indeed, kill a man in cold blood over a failed business deal. In return for his candor, he's probably facing life imprisonment.
What caused Durham to admit to his wrongdoing? Was it depression, guilt, a need for forgiveness, the first step on the road to redemption? No, Durham plead guilty to aggravated murder in return for a gargantuan fast-food feast. He received a bucket of KFC chicken, a bucket of Popeye's chicken, a serving of mashed potatoes, a serving of coleslaw, a slice of carrot cake, a pizza, two calzones, a tray of lasagna and a bucket of ice cream. The entire proceeding cost the state of Oregon a mere $41.70.
As Durham discovers that justice is sometimes served with a side of cole slaw, I'm going to start taking the idea of fast food addiction a lot more seriously...
The fine folks at our sister site Blogging New Orleans have been covering Jazz Fest over the past three days, and have been running their own little food porn collection of the meals available for purchase.
The playful antics of the rats at a Taco Bell-KFC restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village have probably seen more ink than Taco Bell's recent E. coli outbreak. Their performance has certainly garnered tons of local TV news coverage and as of this writing has more than 800 hits on YouTube.
The good folks over at The Scoop over on the NRN Foodservice Blog reported on the story behind the story the other day via an exclusive interview with the leader of the Taco Bell rats. And quite a scoop it was. They managed to catch the leader before his appearance on Conan later that night. Among the revelations from the interview is the fact that the rats' celebrity like that of most stars was no easy task. They'd been practicing their dance moves for more than two months starting with when they were discovered by the city's Health Department in December.
Asone might imagine, the leader describes living in the restaurant as a paradise chock-full of tacos and fried chicken. And he offers up a theory as to why the Health Department allowed the fast-food joint to continue to operate even though a troupe of performing rats had set up shop. They're just too busy with important matters like protecting the public from the trans-fat menace. Never let it be said that New York City doesn't support the arts.
A while back I wrote about snacking on Korean "Fried Chicken," a junk food that has as much to do with fried chicken as Pocky does with Belgian chocolate. After reading about yang-nyum tong dak,or actual Korean fried chicken, I set out to try some. I'd heard of this legendary beer snack and had been meaning to sample some for years, but most places were a little too out of the way. That is until Unidentified Flying Chickens landed practically in my backyard. This hip ultramodern space knows its bird. I ordered up six hot and six soy-garlic wings and was amazed by the delicate crunchy skin.
By now you're wondering what all this has to do with a Midnight Snack. Good question. It's simple. About 12 hours after lunch, I put UFC's chicken to the ultimate test: eating it cold. Not only was it still crunchy, I think the sauce might have had even more of a chance to flavorize those alien chicken wings. (Unidentified Flying Chickens, 71-22 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights, N.Y., (718) 205-6662)
A scant two days after New York City became the first U.S. city to ban trans-fats in restaurant cooking, chefs were scrambling to test alternatives. Well, at least one chef was to my knowledge.
Yesterday's New York Times had an article detailing Chef Michael S. Schwartz's test of using Crisco, coconut oil, canola oil, peanut oil, butter and lard in baking and frying. The experiment took place at the Institute of Culinary Education, where Schwartz is an instructor. The dishes tested were tarte Tatin, the venerable French apple tart; French fries and fried chicken. Crisco was the only ingredient with a trans-fat content that breaks the city's new rules. Just as Chef Schwartz predicted, Crisco produced a tart with the flakiest crust. Meanwhile, the tart baked with butter had a firmer crust that was judged inferior. The tarte Tatin made with coconut oil was deemed tasty, but its crust was lumpy and crumbly.
And what of those two dishes so dear to the heart of every fried food lover you ask? French fries made with coconut oil were tasty, but limp. As for those fried in the dreaded Crisco, they were, you guessed it, crispier. As for the fried chicken, all varieties tasted great, regardless of whether they used trans-fats. This result comes as a great relief to me and the legions of fans of Charles Gabriel the fried chicken genius of Harlem.
KFC announced yesterday that they intended to begin eliminating trans-fats from their recipes, starting with their famous fried chicken. Over the course of the next 6-8 months, by April of 2007, all KFC stores will switch to using a non-hydrogenated cooking oil, although some locations already use it. If this seems like a minor change, consider that one extra-crispy chicken breast (is there any other kind worth going to KFC for?) has 4.5 grams of trans fat!
The process of testing the recipes has taken the company about two years. Even though the partially hydrogenated oil that they currently use does not really contribute to the product in terms of flavor, it does produce a superior crispness that lasts longer than some other oils. The company did not want to put out a product that would not live up to their consumers' expectations - even if it was healthier. They will be using low linolenic soybean oil. Other fast food companies, including Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, which are also owned by KFC's parent company, Yum Brands Inc., say that they are looking into replacing partially hydrogenated oils on their menus, as well.
KFC fans should take note that there will still be a few things on the menu that will not be trans-fat free, namely their biscuits, macaroni and cheese and baked goods.
If this picture doesn't look like the epitome of homestyle diner food, I don't know what does. The basket of cornbread looks like exactly the sort of thing you'd expect to see on the table at a place that serves really good fried chicken. The picture was taken at a Harlem restaurant called Amy Ruth's, which is known for their fried chicken and waffles, by The Girl Who Ate Everything. She describes it as being very tasty, as well as "fluffy, light, tender and moist enough not to be classified as 'dry'" and it was, in fact, served up just before she and her dining companion tucked into plates of fried chicken, fried okra and mac and cheese. It's more of a Northern-style cornbread than a Southern one, but if it tastes even half as good as it looks, I don't think that too many fried chicken fans will complain if they get this as a side dish.
Remember when Kentucky Fried Chicken officially changed its name to KFC, in an effort to make an older brand seem hipper and to eliminate the word "fried" from its name? Well, the company is looking to change its image a little more. The iconic Colonel Sanders is getting a makeover. KFC has trademarked a new rendition of the Colonel. He is a bit less detailed than previous incarnations, with fewer lines in his hair and skin, as well as getting outfitted with a bright red apron.
I like the look, which is the bottom right in the image here, well enough, but prefer the older versions simply because the Colonel looked more like a real character, a version of the real life man he was based on, and less like a fictional fast-food employee, which is the sense that the new image seems to give. It's not a major change, but it's a noticeable one.
Do you prefer the older look or the newer one? You can vote for your favorite version of the Colonel here.
However, there is a real recipe for fried chicken at the end of the article, as well as a few recipes for "sides," like Classic French Potato Salad and a Mediterranean Bean Salad. Personally, if you're gonna fry chicken, throw some French fries in there, too.
"I could really go for some chicken fried chicken right now."
"Huh?"
"You know!Chicken fried chicken."
I recently had this exchange exact with Hannah Pandolph, a Texan friend of mine.You can guess who said the incredulous "huh?"Even us Yankees love and indulge in fried chicken, but chicken fried chicken?How is a chicken fried any way other than in the manner of a chicken?
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.
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When most people look at commercials for Klondike bars, I imagine that they see silly people doing fun, wacky things in return for yummy ice cream treats. Personally, I see cruelty, torture, and the dark side of addiction. Hunger is a harsh mistress; luckily, I've never been placed in a situation where I've had to do something embarrassing or illegal to get fed. To my shame, I have to admit that, under the right circumstances, I would probably humiliate myself for a Klondike bar. If the reward was a nice crême brûlée, there's no doubt: all bets would be off.
Boston chefs tell you the best way to 
The playful antics of the rats at a Taco Bell-KFC restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village have probably seen more ink than Taco Bell's recent 
A scant two days after 
KFC
Remember when Kentucky Fried Chicken officially changed its name to 
All the talk around these parts is about summer grilling, barbecuing, and well, grilling again, especially with that American holiday coming up.
What Fried How?
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
